"Who is TFT for?" - If you ask this question, not you.

ModCaptainMårvelous·Sep 26, 2019·4 votes·2,202 views

As people have already seen (probably to a little bit of rage), TFT is still blowing up and still immensely popular. Of course this continues to beg the questions that are constantly asked by Boards:

"Who even LIKES TFT!?" "IDK man I don't know anyone who plays this." "Honestly after one game I got bored and quit BUT I did play Nexus Blitz for hours."

Simply put? Not you.

The thing about TFT that people continue to ignore or just not even think of is that TFT was essentially Riot's attempt at an entirely new game in the league client...which also fits their desire for it to essentially be Battle.net/Steam/EGS/etc. where you can play all of Riot's games from this one launcher. TFT also does something no other game mode did: Capture a different audience. People who would never even touch league or are wholly uninterested in it want to play it. People who don't like MOBAs play it and as such, it brought in a fresh, new audience.

"But they killed other modes I liked because of it!"

That sucks but honestly, the proof is there. There are people who play PvE games like Left 4 Dead, Overwatch's Seasonal events, etc. Yet despite it, the graph shows that people just weren't invested in it. Now, granted, Riot could do more to show off these things. Even still, the drop rate of these PvE playerbases show that the community just wasn't there.

And more importantly, we forget that as a video game publisher, Riot doesn't just make one thing. Even companies known for one series (FromSoft + Dark Souls) make other things as well. Blizzard was an RTS juggernaut but has expanded into card games, FPS, MMOs and more. Each one attracts a different audience.

Instead of hating TFT and hoping it dies, maybe instead think of what genre you would be invested in? I love city builders, as an example, and I'd explode with glee if I knew Riot was going to make some weird Runeterra city builder where I get to make my own little town, maybe make some champions in it, etc. It's also something I know would get fragged the fuck out if someone saw that Riot was putting resources towards anything other than League.

#TL;DR TFT is popular because it appeals to a completely new audience. It's a new game, not a game mode like Riot is trying to push. Instead of hating on TFT, maybe consider what Riot should go into next.

12 Comments

TaldionimtSep 26, 20195 votes

It's not a new game, Riot copied DOTA once again.

ModCaptainMårvelousSep 26, 20195 votes

{quoted}

It's not a new game, Riot copied DOTA once again.

Let's dispel this myth, because it really overwrites the hard work of Drodo.

Drodo are the creates of autochess and the original indie team. They built a game in DOTA's custom mod tool because it was cheaper than trying to license an engine and it could be a good testing grounds. It became popular. DOTA didn't make shit. In fact, Valve copied them as well after "generously" giving them the blessing to make their own autochess.

You want to claim Riot copied, fine. Just don't ignore the people who made the first (and probably the outright best) autochess.

IllabetheSep 26, 20193 votes

Yes.....

It's also popular because it's "Safe" from discipline/chat/bans. It's being able to play something League related without risking a perma account ban.

It's also a different kind of "Brain Food" (aka healthy game for brain development).

P.S. I would point out Two significant difference between the other game providers you mentioned and Riot:

Riot is part of the world's largest communications conglomerate, and one of its two primary gaming arms. Most companies do not have its resources to diversify.
What Riot isn't selling isn't what I'd call "different products." It's actually selling One Product: The League of Legends Brand. It's just applying its brand to several different plugins, using its familiarity for retention.

This in itself is the singular most ingenious sales model in the gaming world. By only selling a Brand and applying it to different plugins, they limit their R&D expenses to a minimum, while selling to larger and more diverse target markets. Furthermore, because people shop the Brand, and not the minifeatures, many players crossover and create Revenue streams in multiple Riot games.

In Truth, many TFT players are in fact SR players too. And Vice Versa. And we spend on BOTH.

In other words: This game "Might" be for you too, because you love the LOL culture, but want more options. It might not be for you too, if you segment your preferences by game type, and spending budgets.

Kei143Sep 26, 20192 votes

Terminologoy correction; The "Brand" that you speak of is called "Intellectual Property" (or IP). League champs, lore and Poros for that matter are all part of LoL's IP.

LoL, TFT, ARAM, ARURF, NB, Oddessy are all classified as different products that Riot has released.

Nothing is wrong from a company using the same IP for different products. Nintendo does that frequently for many of its products. There's Mario series games which was traditionally a horizontal scroller, and later transitioned into a 3D explorer game.

Nintendo used the Mario IP to create a racing game (Mario Kart), which attracts a different set of players compared to those who played horizontal scrollers. Sure, there are people whom would buy and play Mario Kart to support Nintendo and it's Mario Franchise and vice versa (people play Mario Kart first, and then go buy the Mario Brothers game), but largely the people whom are super attracted to racing games aren't super attracted to horizontal scrollers.

On the same token, TFT and LoL are very different products. LoL (and all it's different game modes) are like Mario Horizontal scroller series games, and TFT is like Mario Kart. Drastically different products that target a different playerbase.

When Riot releases their fighting game, it would target a different player base. Sure it would probably use LoL's IP, but you can't just say that they are the same product.

hhaavviikkSep 26, 20193 votes

looks to me like they like riot wants TFT over litterally any other game mode because monetization and lootboxes, which is also why I can't play the game lest I get addicted to loot boxes again

ModCaptainMårvelousSep 26, 20191 votes

{quoted}

looks to me like they like riot wants TFT over litterally any other game mode because monetization and lootboxes, which is also why I can't play the game lest I get addicted to loot boxes again

Not really.

Loot boxes/monetization come AFTER you've made a successful product. As a reminder, Nexus Blitz/ARURF did have passes (that nobody bought) and were more so experimentation. The reason TFT is actually getting support is because of the graph: It attracts a massive crowd that continue to play while other games do not.

If it was strictly about loot boxes, we'd see a falloff like you do in mobile games where people start leaving once it becomes clear it's a tourist trap. Thats not the case with TFT and it has evened out/has players.

hhaavviikkSep 26, 20191 votes

{quoted}

Not really.

Loot boxes/monetization come AFTER you've made a successful product. As a reminder, Nexus Blitz/ARURF did have passes (that nobody bought) and were more so experimentation. The reason TFT is actually getting support is because of the graph: It attracts a massive crowd that continue to play while other games do not.

If it was strictly about loot boxes, we'd see a falloff like you do in mobile games where people start leaving once it becomes clear it's a tourist trap. Thats not the case with TFT and it has evened out/has players.

That would depend on how good said mobile game is, as a big example, Lords Mobile is a P2W mobile game, all about lootboxes and it has millions of players, obviously not saying that is the only reason people play TFT but because it has plenty of monetization is why riot wants tft over any other game mode.

the HOPE is that it comes after you made a succesfull product, nowadays allot of games are made from the ground up with lootboxes in mind

HighlordHeliosSep 26, 20192 votes

I didn't liked concept of tft because i thought it was too based on random. Then i started playing it. Then i got hooked in it because "casino" because of that gambling ardour of "one more game". Once i caught myself on a thought that i don't really want to play league

King BraumSep 26, 20191 votes

While I agree with this post to compare a game like TFT and ARURF to the PvE events is heavily skewed perspective.

Both TFT and ARURF have a replayablily factor while the PvE events had both a short match time and stops rewarding players once they collected every item or simply the things they wanted. Not to mention both ARURF and TFT have a much more varied playstyle where as the PvE events limits your to playing 5 dedicated champions, something that Odessey fixed and saw a massive spike in playtime afterwards for with its unique skill system.

Taking all factors into account it's clear as day why "total hours played" for PvE events would be so low compared to any other gamemode thats either; summoner's rift but with different rules or a completely dedicated new game with its own rewards, dedicated development team and constant updates.

SirDimwitSep 26, 20191 votes

Just wanted to drop in and confirm that I don't play league. At all. I played it for a few months back in 2014... basically, last time I played League of Legends, Nocturne was in the meta.

I don't care for MOBAs. I don't hate them, I just don't particularly like them.

I heard about TFT in passing just a few weeks ago and figured why not check it out. I am now one of those people that exclusively plays TFT. No other game or game mode in the riot launcher interests me.

Really enjoying TFT.

Ariel the CruelSep 27, 20191 votes

In a similar Boat. Played Played SR long enough to get bored. Played Dominion till it got removed. Then played SR until I got bored again. Played Twisted Treeline until it effectively died from lack of support (Surprised to find Riot still hasn't officially dominion-ed it). Then played HotS as my primary MOBA. Came back for TFT. I'm giving it at least week before making a final judgement.

So far I'm somewhere between, "It has potential as simple distraction" and "F You RNGesus!" Honestly, it feels like a mobile game that forgot to include the pay-to-win mechanics. (I'd say Flash game, but I don't think it's quite there yet.) That's a market SR is never going to attract.

MusIímSep 27, 20191 votes

Riot is built on copying other, better games. What did you expect?

They saw Auto Chess and Dota Underlords and their monkey genes kicked in.